Accentuate the negative and dump the positively brainless
Two of my children have just started at new schools, and from the bottom of each of their backpacks last week I rescued crumpled pieces of paper telling parents something about the kind of institution their children were attending.
One of these documents contained words such as "together", "value", "encourage", "succeed", "support", "celebrate" and "partnership". The children at this school are expected to "celebrate their individual skills and talents".
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The other used words like "detention", "compliance" and "forbidden". Children at this school are expected to be neat and tidy. "Hair must not be over the collar . . . a boy whose dress is unsatisfactory may be sent home," it warned.
Guess which document I like best. I am all in favour of anyone who wants to encourage my children to succeed and I do not care about hair. I find it hard enough to keep my own in order to have the energy to fuss over anyone else's.
In spite of this, I prefer the second. The words of the first flit across my vision, producing no effect save a mild sinking of the heart. Celebration is a nice thing and so is partnership, but the words are spoilt by overuse and are often used in the wrong place. Schools are not for celebrating, they are for teaching, and they should be able to say so.
By comparison the second document, with its clear enunciation of the school rules, is precise, and precision always inspires confidence, even if it is a little petty.
What makes these school rules so refreshing is their use of the negative, which in most organisations has become extinct. In the corporate world, the positive has been blown up out of all proportion and the negative has vanished. No one says "unacceptable". They say "opportunities for improvement". The consequence is that positive words have become exhausted and their meaning is diminished.
The document from the first school has a space for my signature at the bottom. I am meant to commit myself to "value, support and encourage a positive attitude to the school community". I dare say I will sign in due course, although the stickler in me wonders: what does this mean?
This goody-goody little form is small beer when set against what is emerging from some US business schools. For the first time this year, graduates of Thunderbird in Arizona will take a solemn "professional oath of honour" that will commit them to be admirable and ethical managers of the future.
Here is what they have to declare: "As a Thunderbird and a global citizen, I promise: I will strive to act with honesty and integrity. I will respect the rights and dignity of all people, I will strive to create sustainable prosperity worldwide . . ."
Students were quoted this month in the local press as saying the oath was "fantastic!". The president of the school said it would commit its graduates to have a "positive impact in our communities" for the rest of their working lives.
This is positively cretinous. The oath is even more fanciful than the mission of the better-known Thunderbirds, which commits puppets in clumsy spacecraft to saving the world from disaster.
The business school oath is so vague as to amount to nothing. There is no sanction for breaking it; neither is it clear what adhering to it would involve. A better oath might include: "I will not defraud my employer. I will not put my hand in the till. I will not 'pretext' and snoop on fellow board members."
This is stronger because it is negative and precise. Yet even then, business school is not the right place for such oaths. Most of this behaviour is illegal so already attracts a higher sanction than the mere disapproval of the Thunderbird community.
You only have to think of the Ten Commandments to see the power of the negative. We can all remember though shalt not kill/steal/commit adultery. But can you remember the positive ones so easily? Offhand, I can only recall something wishy-washy about honouring thy father and thy mother.
Companies are frightened of being seen to be negative because they fear it will harm workers' motivation and sap their creativity. Yet when I see "together to create" on the school form, I do not feel creative, I just feel jaded.
Actually, the negative can be stimulating. Think of newspapers and the lure of bad news - "64,000 aircraft arrived safely" is not news. We are all drawn to negative things, and companies should be able to use this to their advantage.
Yahoo's website offers proof that the negative tells us more than the positive. On one page the company sets out its values, which turn out to be: excellence, innovation, customer fixation, teamwork, community and fun. These are all very well, but as every other Anglo-Saxon company claims to value the very same things, it seems barely worth rehearsing the list.
At the bottom of this page is a button saying: "And find out what we don't value." If you click on this, you see the 54 things Yahoo does not like. Unlike the first list, this one conveys proper information and gives a clear idea of what the company is like.
I have chosen four things from the list: "90 per cent"; "Additives and preservatives"; "Closed doors"; "Shoes worn at all times".
Reading this list makes something quite clear to me. I know I will never, ever apply for a job at Yahoo. The "fit" isn't there. Indeed, this list of the negatives has brought out in me an untoward longing for the positive. All of a sudden, I want to tell you about some things I do value and why.
I think 90 per cent is brilliant. I never scored that much in an exam (although grade inflation had not kicked in back then). I love additives and preservatives: they make food taste nicer and last longer. I like closed doors a lot, as you can be private behind them. And as for shoes, they should be worn in offices at all times, thereby trapping any odour safely inside.
商学院誓言：“我不欺骗老板”
最
近，我的两个孩子分别去新学校就读。从他们的背包底部，我救出了几张皱巴巴的纸头。那是学校发的文件，告知学生家长有关校规。
其中一张纸上，写有“一起”、“价值”、“鼓励”、“成功”、“支持”、“祝贺”和“合作”等词汇。这所学校期望学生“展示每个人的技能和天资”。
在另一张纸上，则使用了“禁闭”、“顺从”和“禁止”等词汇。这所学校希望学生保持干净和整洁。它警告称：“头发不能长过领子 ……穿着邋遢的男孩可能会被遣送回家。”
你觉得我最喜欢哪一份文件？别忘了，我始终全心支持任何想要鼓励我的孩子走上成功道路的人，而且我不关心头发的问题。我发现，打理自己的发型已经够困难了，根本没有精力去关心其他人的头发。
但尽管如此，我还是更喜欢第二份文件。第一份文件上的单词迅速掠过我的视野，却没有产生任何打动人心的效果。赞美是件好事，合作也一样，但这些词汇的过度使用已经使其变味了，而且经常被用于错误的地方。学校不是赞美的地方，而是教学的地方，它们也应该这么说。
相比之下，第二份文件精准无误地阐明了学校规定，而精确往往能激发信心，即使它有点琐碎麻烦。
第二份校规的新鲜别致之处，在于它们对否定句的运用，这在大多数机构中已经绝迹。在企业界，肯定句型就像气球一样四处膨胀，而否定句型却销声匿迹。没人说“不可接受”。他们会说“改善的机会”。结果是肯定性词汇被透支使用，其意义逐渐减弱。
第一个学校的校规文件下方留下了一个让我签名的空间。这意味着我要承诺“重视、支持并鼓励该校的积极态度”。我敢说我会很快签下大名，尽管我头脑中依然存在困惑：这是什么意思呢？
与某些美国商学院的新近发生的事情相比，这种冠冕堂皇的小表格简直是小巫见大巫。今年，亚利桑那州雷鸟国际管理学院(Thunderbird)的毕业生将首次进行庄严的“职业荣誉宣誓”，承诺做一个令人钦佩、具有职业道德的未来经理人。
以下是他们必须宣誓的内容：“作为一名雷鸟毕业生和全球公民，我承诺：我将努力做到行事诚实正直。我将尊重所有人的权利和尊严。我将努力创造全球的可持续繁荣……”
当地新闻界本月引用该校学生的话称，此次宣誓“非常神奇！”该校校长表示，它将促使毕业生在以后的职业生涯“对我们的社会产生积极影响”。
这完全是在说胡话。这个誓词甚至比更著名的《雷鸟》科幻木偶电视剧中的任务更加不切实际――在那部电视剧中，木偶人的任务是乘坐笨重的太空船，去拯救世界脱离灾难。
商学院的誓词含糊不清，相当于什么都没说。其中既没有规定违反它的惩罚措施，也没清楚说明遵守它会有什么奖励。一个更好的誓词或许应包括这些内容：“我不会欺骗雇主。我不会偷盗。我不会用‘pretext’技术去调查董事会里的同事。”
这种誓词更为有力，因为它使用了否定句，意思清晰准确。然而，即便改成那样，商学院也不是发这种誓的合适之所。这些行为多数是违法行为，会受到更严重的惩罚，而不仅仅是雷鸟商学院的反对。
只要想一想圣经中的《十诫》，你就能发现否定的力量。我们都能记住不应杀人、偷盗、通奸。但你能如此轻而易举地记住肯定语气的话吗？如果不事先准备，我只能想起一些关于尊敬父母的乏味说辞。
各家公司都害怕自己被视为否定句的使用者，因为它们担心这将挫伤员工们的动力，并削弱他们的创造力。然而，当我看到学校表格上的“共同创造”时，并没有觉得它刺激了创造力，只是感觉厌倦不堪。
事实上，否定词语能起到刺激作用。想想报纸和负面新闻的吸引力吧――负面消息让你侧耳倾听，而“6.4万架飞机安全着陆”则不算什么新闻。我们都关注负面的东西；公司应该能利用这一点为自己服务。
雅虎(Yahoo)的网站证明，与肯定句相比，否定句告诉我们的信息更多。该公司在一个网页上列举了它的价值观，即卓越、创新、用户至上、团队合作、集体精神和快乐。这些全都很好，但由于其它各家英美公司都宣扬完全一样的东西，它似乎没必要复述这个清单。
在这个网页的底端，有一个按钮，标有“看看我们不赞成的”。如果你点击这个按钮，就会看到雅虎不喜欢的54件事。与第一张清单不同，这张清单传达了恰当的信息，并清楚地显示出该公司的喜好。
如果你自己不愿意劳神去看，我从这张清单中选择了4样：“90%”；“添加剂和防腐剂”；“关着的门”；“一直穿鞋”。
这张清单让我非常清楚地知道了一些事。我知道，我将永远不会去雅虎应聘一份工作。我不适合那儿。事实上，这张否定事项的清单，引起了我对肯定事项的强烈渴望。突然之间，我想告诉你一些我确实重视的东西，以及重视它们的原因。
我认为90%棒极了：我从未在考试中获得那么高的分数，虽然我上学那时候还没有出现评分膨胀(grade inflation)。我爱添加剂和防腐剂，它们让食物的味道更好，保存时间更长。我非常喜欢关着的门，因为在它们背后，你能有私人空间。至于鞋子，在办公室里应该一直穿着，以便安全地防止里面的味道跑出来。
